The Courier News from Blytheville, Arkansas · Page 9

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1G, 1940 SLYTHEVILLE (ARK.) COURIER NEWS Song writers May Take Airs Off Air After Jan. 1 Radio listeners may miss most of their favorite songs after Jan. i unless a fight between tv:o organizations called ASCAP and BMI Ls .settled. This Ls the first of two .stories telling just what ASCAP and BMI are all about, how their battle royal of mask now stands, and what it mean.s to you. By TOM WOLF NT;A. .Service fkafi Correspondent NEW YORK,-Dec. IC.-The radio wells which ring hi the New Year W 1941 will toll the knell of much W the jmi.sie Americans know and love the best. The hearts of the radio broadcasters and of the American Society of Composers. Authors, and Publishers do not beat in three- quarters time. The broadcasters will not renew their contracts with ASCAP, America's most powerful group of music copyright holders- and ASCAP u'ill take its copyrighted music off the air. Tn ASCAP's library of perhaps 2.000.000 melodies are a great majority of the favorites—standard, popular, and classical—of the past 50 years. These copyrights extend for two 28-year terms. The radio broadcasters will be hard put to replace varied perennial favorites ranging: from "Sweet Adeline," "The Stars and Stripes Forever," 1 and "Mademoiselle From Armen- tieres" to "Stardust," "St. Louis Blues," and the present top popular hits. As ASCAP goes, so go the melodies of America's best-known modern composers, from Victor Herbert, John Philip Sousa. and Perde Grofe to Berlin, Cohan, Gershwin, Hart, Hummerstein, Kern, Porter, Rodgers, Romberg and Youmans. BROADCASTERS ESTABLISH RIVAL To fill this gap, the broadcasters, prompted by the big networks, called a special convention in September 1939 to establish a rival to ASCAP—Broadcast Music, Inc. To date, some 452 stations, representing over 90 per cent of the industry, large.and small, have bought shares of BMI's $1,500.000 stock. BMI's first catalogue appeared eorlyr-last ••: April—with five tunes. To A a ^JA..tias. BTQwiv^to c.over^oyer Latin-American music heard on the air; some of the-most important hill-billy music; .American' folk songs; Western songs; ballads; sacred music; "Songs of the Sunny South"; '-Songs Children Love to Sing;," etc. These tunes, plus those songs that are in the "public domain'; <i. e., their- copyrights have expired), plus any new hits BMI can find—these will 'compose America's radio musical fare until ASCAP and the broadcasters come to terms. Broadway wiseacres think BMI stands for "Bad Music Indefinitely." BMI replies: 1—Our 'music has already been heard exclusively on most sustaining programs for some time, without • complaint. 2—Listeners today are more concerned with the band playing a tune than the music 'itself;- and most of the "name" bands are playing BMI songs. 3— No one missed Youmans, Kern, great as the Herbert, Porter, and Romberg— are— when their tunes were pulled off the air for six months in 1936. The present battle royal of music is the climax of a fight as old us radio. The specific issues are man- o^/S^';^-:-^^^'" 11 "^" * " » AS °- '« - -» » - right:, Bya n ey A M. Knye. Neville Miller, M.'E. Tompicins. Miller system') broadcasters' own BMI also charges .stations on an over-all "basis. Other broadcaster "complaints concern ASCAP's proposed price, which would come to nearly twice the" 54,100.000 radio paid ASCAP last year. They also say some pretty unpleasant things about ASCAP's management and about who gets the money ASCAP collects. AS BUCK GOES SO GOES ASCA1* But these, and an additional welter of charges and countercharges. though important, are side issues to the underlying bone of contention. Conferees mteht Iron out differences were ft not for •.-»«-.•—. -. - -^. ^ 2-* ***-•• * 4 \* ujovi v-j tit \; U itXL 1 •* —. - — -~ vvu >T *_ 4 v* n, i»OL i wl ifold. Radio's biggest kick is against 1 a Background or 20" years of mu- being charged a 'percentage of its ! lual distrust. being at the jnercy of a small group' of men who have''what radio heeds.. No one cari predict how this 'fight will end. That .will largely depend on how strong A3CAP really is. And that. In turn. Ls largely dependent on one man- Gene Buck, a founder and for 26 years the president of the American Society of Composers. Authors, and Publishers. entire income—part of which comes from nommtsical programs. Tlxe broadcasters want to pay for music on a per-program-used basis. ASCAP's president, sentimental, old-timer Gene Buck, replies: "Conservatively, 70 per cent of every radio operation is music. Music is the backbone of radio. An individual program Ls only part of an integrated mass of madio entertainment. Because it's an integral part | of radio, we charge for music on ' an over-all, availability basis." ! He might have added thai (al- ( though it is looking for a better Ever since commercial Patron of Art Needs Only $1 in Iowa Town CEDAR FALLS, la. (UP)—All that is needed Ls si 10 be a patron of an in Cedar Palls. That amount will make you a -member of the Cedar Falls Art Association for one radio year. range of the average pocketbook. Already .< the project Ls only a few months old) an art gallery has been established in Cedar Falls. Here visitors may .see. and purchase; the work of Iowa artists. No Colds al HeulUi Meeting SALT .LAKE CITY. Utah <UP)— Utah's unique "town :nesting" on health attracted more than 2,000 women to Salt Lake City for n one-day conference on winter ailments. Ten health groups sponsored the session. In accord with basic health rules, women .suffering from colds were not welcome at the meeting. • CATION'S WASHINGTON COLUMN PAGE NLNft Hy imiK'i: CATTON Courier News Wutihiugloii Cori'iis WASHINGTON. Doc. Hi. — Nobody in authority will .say one word for publication, but the real truth Ls that the fighting planes (he United States is sending to England are not fit for modern aerial warfaie. This Isn't true of the bombers. The heavy-duty pianos nmiung from the giant Hying fortresses on down are yood enough to fight in anybody's war. But the fighters— the planes whose job it is to down enemy pianos by gunfire-are sadly outclassed by the first-line planes' of Britain and Germany. Apparently this Ls largely bo- eause the U. S. Army ha.-i fulled (o co-ordinate the complicated job of plane design. As experts explain U. the airplanes themselves—as airplanes— are IGG per cent all right. The. trouble Is thnt, the business of de- signlny flying machines, testing metals and improving engines has gone Ahead fft.su 1 r than the business of fltllmj the pianos with the right sort 01 armaments. The result is that the American lighting plane is uniformly outgunned, u. s. WINGS; TOO WEAK The whole trend in aviation ordnance today is toward greater Lilting power—either heavier guns or more of them. Tlu> British got onto this about five years ago, when they began equipping their Spitfire and Hurricane lighting with eight machine guns apiece, four in each wing. On trinl, this' worked very well. But the British immediately began looking toward the use of heavier gnus. The Germans went to work along the same line, and presently vere sending up planes which mounted small cannon. The French —who had done some experimenting along that line as far back;, ns the first world war—followed suit. In with this increased offensive armament came armor. The self- sealing gas tank—again an item which the French had tried out In 1917-18—WAS perfected. So were various types ot cockpit armor. All of which, the experts re- murk, called for sturdier, heavier planes. II you're going to mount two. or four, or six heavy machine gum cr smell cannon on each wing of a plane, you've got to make that wing U ranger. And that is where the American fighters are falling short. i MARKET FOR GOOD GUNSIGHT . .For-the- most -.part, JU.^S. fig,htlrjg planes carry much less' armament' than do the British or German fighters. Ilenc" they are of lighter construction. .'.•• . . Consequently, the British are having a good deal of trouble adapting the fighters they're getting from the [Inited States to the needs of modern aerial warfare. These planes are under-gunned and under-armored. And it is extremely hard to re-arm and re-gun them, because in most cases they simply aren't sturdy enough to stand up under the heavier loads. No nation has fully solved the pioblem of aiming <\ cannon mounted in a fighting plane, although the British are believed to have made the most headway. The man who turns up with a gun- sight as good in its Held as the American Norden bombslght Is in Johns Ice & Coal Co. Good - Clean - Coal We Deliver 100 Ibs. or Carload All Coal by Rail Phone 83 was born In 1922. ASCAP says it The whole thing- ^ the idea of has had to light broadcasters' at- Perner Uuhn, art Enthusiast and tempts to plunder its music—iu i writer. Nuhn's Idea U to bring art. the courts and in the legislatures j painting In particular, within the And radio equally dislikes .and dis- ' trusts ASCAP. which has never lost a battle. Radio squirms" at COMPLETE LINE OF OFFICE SUPPLIES Call 16 DELTA OFFICE. SUPPLY,STOKh R.R. and Ash Sts. Thousands of Housewives ."'Prefer Sentry Coal Because It Is Super-Cleaned! **v ' ' tftea* eA A 2S23ss?i m *5&>z Try Our "Warm-Morning" Sentry Coal For the New Warm iMorning Stoves ' GAY & BILLINGS, inc. PHONE 76 Greatest time- and effort-saver ever presented on a typewriter! NEW! REVOLUTIONARY! MAGIC Margin does away with the fuss and fret ot setting margin stops. The operator docs more typing-does it betrer-«ufar,/as(er/ Try thus N'ew Roval now! Give it THE DESK TEST. Chasing Bookies Harder Job Than Enforcing Prohibition Laws Hy IIAIIRY (lltAVSON NKA. S«rvJe« Sports IMilor CHICAGO. Dec. IC.-ChkuifO Is trying a new way or stamping out IU himdbooks, -and ueuinu nowhere In a jiHy. Thirty deputy sheriffs t;et out with KiBO summonses, notices io a.s many defendants under n restraining order ihsit, henceforth, make.s bookmakers uiul publishers or dispensers of betting news sub* ji:i't to ii eonlempt-of-eomt .sentence. The smnmomeii arc mount merely to iUvi- the dei'endnntsj nn opportunity m prepure u di-iY-me. Any dej'entln)!t. .served who dot's not flit' an uppeunuu-o iu court by it spei'lt'lod dull' forfeit UK- rift lit to contest the Injunction. Illinois Atlornoy General John 12. Cnxsldy, wlio broughi. the in- junt-Uou proccccllntis*, considered thl.s weapon Hyuiust bookle.s more direct than piusetuilnt' them under existing grtmblins laws. ALIi COI'S CAN l)<> IS 11 All ASK UOOKMAKEllS But tiny old hoss pluyer, will toll Attorney General Cfissidy thnt eliiiiliuitlny bookmakers Is much tougher than wn.s eni'orcln^ prohibition; Al! the cops enn do Is them. Allhouyh nil hoss pluyers „,.„„ die broke, people will phiy the ponies as long as they run. it's a disease, but a good share of the citizens are afflicted, and you can't shake something the public, wants Prod Kohlcr, Cleveland's Golden Rule chief of police and mayor of 20 years ngo, had the right slant He refused to take men off other forms of police work to have them waste time annoying bookmakers. "I would nUhcr sec u book- the bombing field will give his nnnm,,, n military secret of Fighter pilots usually fly solo so the handy revolving turret used n bombers is out. To aim his gun "ie fighter has to aim his plane. No. sights now known are wholly satisfactory. A pilot In a dog-fight hasn't much time to spend training a single-shot weapon on a fast- moving target. maker in every doorway than force one out of business," said Chief Kohler. ''If the bookmaker Is driven to the .street corner. winners may have a .hard time finding him." KOOKIKS DON'T HANG OUT 'illimi; ANY MOIIK A,s you might have suspected, Attorney General Cnssidy's list of uhk-ago bookmakers appeared to be either erroneous or out of date. In most cases 'either the book had been moved or the address was wrong. The list certainly was not complete. It Is conservatively estimated that there are more than MOO handbooks in metropolitan Even when the, deputies, through peepholes, gathered that there was warring going on, they had to go away when told that the man they weiv seeking didn't- hang out there any more. The? more direct way would have been to have armed the offi- eers with search warrants. But Unit failed loo, and it was decided to notify the book operators that a judge had issued an injunction against gambling. Tluu never would have occurred to the bookmakers if the notices hadn't, been sent around Mutt, la, not to the comparatively low the deputies have been able to ' " New York's Top Cover Charges $30 For '41 Eve NEW YORK (UP)"—Upwards of 100 New York night dubs have announced special New Year's Eve programs with cover charges ranging from $2.50 to $15 per person. The "spots" when; a man will have to puy $30 just, lo get n table *or himself and one guest Include the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center'* main building; the Monte Curio; the Sen Room at the Waldorf - Astoria Hotel- the Irldium Room at the St. Regis Hole! and the Persian Room at the plaza Hotel. ':. : ^ - Next most expensive—$12,50 per person — are such places a"s the Stork Club, El Morocco, the Versailles and dining rooms in th** Billmore and 'Ambassador Hotels". Normal cover charges In New York are from $1.50 to $3.50 per person. Club owners say the n ing of prices on New Year's Ev necessary to help them pay such extra expenses as over-t breakage. The Missouri, -Mississippi, Illinois rivers --are within a j of, eight miles ot a., point in. houn county; Illinois'.''' COAL SPECIAL High Grade Black Diamond, Deliv- CC AA ered, per ton $U«UU Bundle kindling free with each ton of >coal, Farmer's Gin & Exchange Co. Phone 325 BUY YOUR HOLIDAY LIQUORS & WINES BY THE CASE AND SAVE MONEY Complete Stock BLYTHEVILLE LIQUOR SHOP 107 S, 2nd Phone 167 FOR SALE StHBLEY'S BEST FLOUR Barrel $4.80 48 Lb. Sack ...'.. $1.25 24 Lb.Sack . :. .... ., 65c 50 Lbs. Lard . ,. $3.25 100 Lbs. Sugar $4.60 0. ABRAHAM Ash & Broadway Phone Slti HUBBARD FURNITURE CO. PHILCO <***.•:'<• V-v p :. EXTRA-' :'vfe EASY HOLIDAY ; TERMS' 0 "xT^SS MODIL S9C. Plays anywhere on its own power. 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